NOTE: Big thanks to CarScoops.com for the most excellent renderings and writeup that you can read HERE!
The notion that GM would break off “Corvette” as its own division has been kicking around since the days of GM’s bankruptcy. Government auditors discovered that of all GM’s divisions, only two were turning a profit; the truck division and Corvette.
Before this discovery, it looked like Corvette was once again on the chopping block. This happened once before in the very early ’90s when the late Jim Perkins came back to GM to be the new Chevrolet general manager. When Perkins arrived back at Chevrolet he reported that he didn’t recognize the place, it was in such disarray.
As a result of the happy findings of the g-man auditors, Corvette engineering and design were given the green light for the C7. Tadge Juechter was already working on a mid-engine platform, but an enhanced front-engine layout built empirically on the highly successful C6 Z06-based C6.R race cars would get Chevrolet to the C7 sooner, rather than later.
Since those days, much has changed in the automotive world. Customers liked and wanted more SUV-type vehicles, enough that the industry began walking away from the traditional two and four-door sedan designs. Crossover SUVs filled the marketplace for buyers that didn’t want a big SUV.
At the same time, hybrid cars started getting traction. Then came the success of the Tesla vehicles and the race was on! It wasn’t long before big hybrid and battery-powered, luxury SUVs started showing up from U.S., European, and Asian manufacturers. This was a total game-changer because the public discovered something new… TORQUE… you know, that “other horsepower”.
Torque is the pulling power behind steam tractors, farm tractors, steam locomotives, diesel-electric trains, and tractor-trailers. The beauty of electric motors is that any desired amount of torque can be wired into the electric motors, with full torque at one rpm!
If you have been following the electric SUV road test reports in Motor Trend, Car and Driver, Road & Track, and other publications, you should have noticed the performance statistics. They are astounding!
Many of these vehicles weigh as much as 5,000-to-6,000 pounds! 0-to-60 times for many are just a few tenths away from 3-seconds flat! That’s enough to blow the doors off of any Hemi Cuda, 454 Chevelle, L88, Z06, or ZR1 Corvette! And because the battery packs are flat and under the floor, the center of gravity of these machines is very low. This transmits into astonishing handling for such huge vehicles!
So, with this as the new Lay-of-the- Land of vehicles, there’s no way GM is going to not want a big heap’n help’n of this tasty new high performance SUV pie. And what is GM’s flagship performance car? Corvette!
It makes total sense for GM to go full-steam ahead, not only with an electric C9 Corvette but also an electric SUV Corvette. Because battery packs are flat and low, and electric motors are relatively small, there’s no need for transmissions, fluid cooling systems, exhaust systems, etc., an electric platform can be configured as anything! Two and four-door SUVs, crossover SUVs, trucks, Corvettes… whatever!
So, when you factor in all of the above, plus the runaway success of the C8 mid-engine Corvette, why not strike while the iron is red hot and break Corvette off as its own division? If Corvette is to be its own division, then it will need to satisfy all corners of the market; the traditional Corvette sports car, a four-door coupe, a two and four-door SUV, and don’t be surprised to see a truck version!
But we won’t know until GM wants us to know. Recently there have been some computer renderings that frankly didn’t make me warm. But recently CarScoops.com published a series of renderings that are, to my “artist’s eye” very good-looking. Within a second of seeing the top image on this post, I said to myself, “That’s very cool!
I don’t know who created the renderings, but if Chevrolet designers and stylists get things this good, they’ll have another monster hit on their hands. – Scott
